ATO kicks off ‘biggest ever’ taxpayer education campaign

The ATO has kicked off its taxpayer-focused tax time education campaign, with a series of tailored emails to tax agents and self-preparing taxpayers as it seeks to clamp down on work-related deductions.

Tax&Compliance Jotham Lian08 June 2018

In emails seen by Accountants Daily, the ATO has sought to raise awareness of the myDeductions tool in the ATO app to “save hours of work at tax time” and help keep records in one place.

“This email is part of our broader Tax Time 2018 communication strategy. It was sent to previous myTax users who have not previously used myDeductions to upload their deductions,” said an ATO spokesperson.

“As part of this strategy we send tailored emails to self-preparing taxpayers to help them get their tax right throughout the year, with a focus on helping taxpayers as they are preparing and lodging their return.”

According to the ATO, further emails will be sent out to taxpayers with tailored information based on their past lodgements, including information about deductions they can and can’t claim; what income they need to declare; what their student loan repayment obligations are; and tips for rental property owners.

Tax agents will also soon be receiving education material to support their clients this tax time.

The education campaign comes after the ATO received a $130.8 million boost from the government to increase compliance activities targeting individual taxpayers and tax agents, as announced in the budget last month.

Work-related expenses has been a key focus area for the Tax Office, with commissioner Chris Jordan claiming that incorrect claims were more rampant in agent-prepared returns as compared to self-prepared returns.